The present invention generally relates to golf clubs and, more particularly, to a golf club head design offering improved aerodynamic performance enabling a golfer to generate greater club head speed during a swing.
Conventional golf club heads feature a generally planar ball striking surface and a tail extending rearwardly from the ball striking surface. Recently, and to increase the golf club head mass and, more particularly, the xe2x80x9csweet spotxe2x80x9d area, the head size of some golf clubs has been substantially increased. While extensive efforts have been devoted toward enhancing the aerodynamics of the tail or rear side of such increased size clubs, one incidental result of this increase in club head size is that the generally flat ball striking surface has also increased in size whereby adding significant resistence or air drag during the club swing. Of course, the air drag on the golf club head slows the speed of the golfer""s swing and therefore limits the forcible impact of the golf club head against the golf ball. Such a reduction in club speeds greatly limits the distance the ball can be driven.
Some attempts have been made to reduce air drag on the head of a golf club to provide greater head speed and longer driving distances. One technique involves forming a throughbore or hole in the center of the ball striking face. Such prior club head designs, however, have failed to recognize the potential advantages to be gained by aerodynamically designing such passageway in a manner accomplishing results heretofore unachieved.
Thus, there is a need and continuing desire for a novel golf club head, particularly suited for driving clubs, which is aerodynamically designed and configured to direct air through the club head whereby reducing drag on the golf club head and thereby providing greater head speed, increased driving distance, and increased directional accuracy.
In view of the above, and in accordance with a first aspect of this invention there is provided a golf club including an elongated shaft and a head connected toward one end of the shaft. The golf club head has a striking face and a rear side opposite to the striking face. To enhance its aerodynamics, the golf club head defines an air flow passage extending therethrough. More specifically, the passage in the golf club head has an inlet, opening to the striking face, and an outlet, opening to the rear side of the head. Moreover, the golf club head defines a closed margin for such passage, and wherein the closed margin of the passage defined by the golf club head has a continuous decreasing taper between the inlet and outlet ends of the passage.
A second aspect of the present invention relates to a golf club including an elongated shaft and a head connected toward one end of the shaft. The golf club head has a heel, a toe, a striking face defining a sweet spot and a side opposite from the striking face and defining a rear of the head. The golf club head further defines a first passage disposed to one side of the sweet spot and having an inlet end, opening to the striking face, and an outlet end, opening to the rear of the head. The inlet and outlet ends of the first passage are disposed along a first axis extending generally normal to the striking face. The golf club head further defines a second passage disposed to an opposite side of the sweet spot and having an inlet end, opening to said striking face, and an outlet end, opening to the rear of the head, with the inlet and outlet ends of the second passage being disposed along a second axis extending parallel to the first axis. The golf club head further defines a closed margin for each of the passages. The closed margin of each passage has a continuously decreasing taper from the inlet to the outlet of each passages, and wherein the passages reduce an area of the striking face exposed to ambient air whereby reducing the resistence of the moving head during a golf swing.
A third aspect of the present invention relates to a to a golf club including an elongated shaft and a weighted head connected toward one end of the shaft. The golf club head has a generally planar front ball striking face defining a generally centralized sweet spot and a rear side opposite to the front ball striking face. The club head further defines a first passage disposed to one side of the sweet spot and has an inlet end, opening to said ball striking face whereby air is forcibly moved thereinto and through the passage as the golf club is swung, and an outlet end, opening to the rear side of the golf head, with the inlet and outlet ends of the first passage being disposed along a first axis extending generally normal to the ball striking face. The golf club head further defines a second passage disposed to an opposite side of the sweet spot and having an inlet end, opening to the ball striking face whereby air is forcibly moved thereinto and through the passage as the golf club is swung, and an outlet end, opening to the rear side of the club head, with said inlet and outlet ends of the second passage being disposed along a second axis extending parallel to the first axis. The club head further defines a closed margin for each passage, and with the closed margin of each passage defined by the club head having a continuously decreasing taper from the inlet to the outlet of each passages whereby air moving through each passage is compressed between the inlet and outlet ends of each passage while the air flowing out of the outlet end of the passages has an increased velocity and is exhausted in a predetermined direction to assist squaring of the front striking face of the head during a golf swing.
In a preferred embodiment, the closed margin for each passage defined by the club head has a 1:1 cross-sectional ratio between the inlet and outlet ends of the respective passage. Preferably, the inlet end to the passage disposed proximate to the toe of the golf club head defines a larger circumference than does the closed margin for the inlet end to the passage disposed proximate to the heel of the golf club head.
In one form, the closed margin at the inlet end of each passage has a diameter of at least 4 mm while the closed margin at the outlet end of each passage has a diameter of at least 2 mm.
Accordingly one object of this invention is to provide a novel golf club head design having a reduced drag as the club head is swung whereby increasing the velocity of the golf swing.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel golf club head design which enhances the aerodynamics of the club whereby yielding the possibility for longer drives.
Still another feature of the present invention involves a golf club head design which incorporates fundamental laws governing motion of fluids to increase flow velocity of air through and from the golf club head.
Yet another advantage of this invention relates to the provision of a golf club having an enlarged head design whereby increasing the area of the xe2x80x9csweet spotxe2x80x9d while having a ball striking face having a reduced ran air impacting surface.
These and other objects, aims and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings and the appended claims.